It’s Time for a Family Meeting!

Situation: Your family is having problems, so you’ve all agreed to have a family meeting.

Instructions: First, decide who in your group is the child, the teenager, the mother and the
father. Then take 1-2 minutes to read your role below (don’t read the other roles). When
you are ready, the father will start the meeting.

Child Some of the things you want:

- To be able to stay up later at night.
- More money from your parents
- A computer in your bedroom
- Other: ___________________ ? (You can think of more)

Teenager . Some of the things you want:

- To be able to use the family car this weekend to go to a party.
- To get a tattoo.
- Other: ___________________ ? (You can think of more)

Mother Some of the things you want:

- You want your children start helping with the housework
- You want them to stop using bad language
- ___________________ ? (You can add more)

Father : Some of the things you want:

- You want your child to see an English tutor because his/her English is poor.
- You want your teenager to start cooking dinner for the family
- Other: ___________________ ? (You can think of more)
*You will start the meeting when you’re ready. You can say, “Thank you for coming. It’s time to talk….”

Closing: After the meeting, share the results of your meeting with the class. Use
make/have/let/help (causative). For example:

- “My parents won’t let me have a computer in my bedroom.”

- “I will not let my daughter get a tattoo on her face.”
- “A tutor will help my child improve his English.”

-- copyright Matthew Barton of www.englishcurrent.com --

 It’s Time for a Family
Meeting!

A. (Pair Work) 1. What do children want their parents to let them do? Put some ideas below.

Children want their parents to let them…

 go to bed late.


(Box 1)

2. What do parents make their children do? Put some ideas below.

Parents make their children …

 wash dishes


(Box 2)

B. Role-play (Groups of 4)

Situation: Your family is having problems, so you’ve all agreed to have a family meeting. In groups
of four, decide which pair will be the children and which pair will be the parents. Read your roles
below. When you are all ready ready, the parents will start the meeting.

Role: Children: Your parents are too strict. Look at the ideas in the Box 1 above. Those are the
things you want to do. In the meeting, try to persuade your parents to let you do them.

Role: Parents: Your children are bad. Look at the ideas in Box 2 above. Those are the things you
want to make your children do. In the meeting, make them agree to follow the new rules. When you
are ready, you can start the meeting. You can say “Thank you for coming. It’s time to talk…”

C. Wrap-up. After the meeting, share the results with the class. Use make/have/let/help
(causative). For example:

- “My parents won’t let me have a computer in my bedroom.”

- “I will not let my daughter get a tattoo.”
- “Our children will help us clean the house.”
-- copyright Matthew Barton of www.englishcurrent.com --